Ebenezer And Nicholas Massey

458

Ebenezer Massey was born in 1778 in North Carolina. He was a farmer whose land bordered the Catawba River in the Shiloh Township of Iredell County, NC. He married Nancy ____ (b. 20 Oct 1775-d. 22 May 1855) around 1800 and they had four known children. 

Nicholas C. (b. ca 1801); 
Sarah R. (b. ca 1803-d. 21 April 1894 in Iredell Co.); 
Abner (b. ca 1805-d. 18 Dec 1845 in Iredell Co.) married Nancy Alexander (d. 1849), daughter of David and Catharine Alexander of Alexander Co., North Carolina; 
Abraham S. (b. 20 Dec 1807-d. 5 July 1866) married Margaret Eveline Wallace (b. 2 Feb 1816 - d. 12 Sept 1873); and 
Ebenezer Jr. (b. 7 Feb 1810 - d. 8 July 1886) married Mahala Allen (b. 11 Feb 1810-d. 8 Feb 1902), daughter of Darling and Susana Wallis Allen. 

Ebenezer Massey, Sr. died around June, 1870 with his will probated on the 6 July 1870. He is presumed to be buried in an unmarked grave next to his wife, Nancy, whose grave has a marker in the Shiloh Presbyterian Cemetery in Iredell County, NC.

Nicholas C. Massey moved to Pulaski Co., Kentucky where he received a land grant in 1823. SarahR. Massey never married.

Abner and Nancy Alexander Massey were the parents of six known children. 

1- S. Catherine (b. 22 Sept 1829-d. 16 July 1914 in Iredell Co. and buried in Shiloh Presbyterian Cemetery) married first, George R. Clodfelter (d. in Civil War) and second, James A. Guy. She had three children: 
Henry M.L. Clodfelter (b. 1856); 
Lily C. Clodfelter (b. 1861-d. 1934) married her cousin, J.E. Massey; and 
Luckey M. Guy (b. 1870-d. 1945) never married. 

2- The second child of Abner Massey was Emmett Stowe (b. 17 Mar 1832-d. 31 Aug 1908 and buried in Alexander Co., NC) first married Mary Jane Norrell (b. 21 July 1835-d. 7 Dec 1864) with whom he had two children. 

Mary J. (b. 1855) and 
Jonas (b. 1861). 

His second wife was Mary Catherine Moore with whom he had five children: 

William Alexander (b. 1867) married Dovie Deal, 
Cora Lee (b. 1868) married Jason Abernathy, 
Laura Jane (b. 1871) married ____ Graves, 
John Abner (b. 1872), 
Ebenezer McLeland (b. 1874) married Medora McGee. 

Emmett Stowe Massey's third wife was Juliet Moose. They had three children: 

Robert Emmett (b. 1876) married Ellen Robinette, 
Charles Joseph (b. 1878), and 
Mary Belle (b. 1882). 

3- Abner Massey's third child was Franey (b. 1836); 
4- his fourth child was E.F.; 
5- his fifth child was J. Abner (b. 1841-d. 1863 in the Civil War); 
6- his sixth child was Nancy C. (b. 1845) who married W.W. Houpe and died after 1914 in Iredell Co., NC.

The fourth son of Ebenezer Massey Sr. was Abraham S. who was born in North Carolina. He owned property close to his father until 1855 when he moved to Independence Co., Arkansas. He died there of pneumonia in 1866 and is buried in the Blue Springs Cemetery in Newark, Arkansas. He was married to Margaret Eveline Wallace around 1835. She was probably from the Wallace family in Alexander County but her lineage has not been established. She died of tuberculosis in 1873 in Joshua, Johnson Co., Texas. Abraham and Eveline had six children all born in Iredell County, NC: Lewis Nicholas (b. 8 Feb 1836) married Mary Jane Sark; William Laffette (b. 28 June 1840-died in the Civil War); Jerusha Efrem (b. 6 Dec 1844-d. 12 Sept 1869 in Independence Co., Ark.) married J.W. Pliler, Eli (b. 12 Feb 1846-d. 24 Mar 1934 in Hood Co., Texas) married Nancy Elizabeth Mayhan; Pinkney Floyd (b. 15 July 1849-d. 30 Dec 1944 in Burnet Co., Texas) married Martha Ann Rutledge; Martha Caroline (b. 21 Sept 1854 - 17 June 1934 in Fort Worth, Texas) married John Henry Fitzgearld.

The fifth child of Ebenezer Massey Sr. was Ebenezer Massey Jr. He and his wife Mahala Allen Massey are buried in the New Bethany Baptist Church Cemetery in Iredell County, NC. They were the parents of ten children: 

Abram (b. 2 Feb 1832-d. 15 Aug 1862 buried in Iredell Co., NC) married Martha Angeline Best; 
Mahaley (b. ca 1832) married Sidney Sipes; 
Susan (b. ca 1834) married Stikeleather; 
William Franklin (b 1834-d. 31 Oct 1926 buried in Catawba Co. NC) married Mary Angeline Kale;
Jacob (b. ca 1839); 
Nancy C. (b. 12 Nov 1842-d. 9 Dec 1919 buried in Iredell Co., NC) married James G. Pierce, 
Abner (b. ca 1843) married Julia ___,
Elizabeth E.L. (b. ca 1845) married George Brady; 
Mary (b. May 1850) married John Teague; 
Joseph E. (b. 1852-d. 1934 buried in Iredell Co., NC) married Lily C. Clodfelter.

The parentage of Ebenezer Massey Sr. has not been proven. It is certain that he had a family relationship with Nicholas Massey. It is possible that he is the son of Nicholas Massey by Nicholas' second wife, Lucretia. It has been proven that Ebenezer did live with Nicholas Massey and upon Nicholas' death, Ebenezer bought six tenths of Nicholas' land from his heirs. He lived on this land for over fifty years until his death in 1870. Since there was a family relationship between Ebenezer Massey Sr, and Nicholas Massey, Nicholas' lineage will be included.

Nicholas Massey was born in Kent Co., Maryland around 1725. He migrated to Iredell Co., NC in the early 1760's and became one of the earliest settlers on the Catawba River. He purchased the grant of Joshua Teague in 1764. He is listed in the 1768 Rowan County Taxables along with his sons, Abraham and Isaac. Nicholas was married to Henrietta Whaley (d. 1773) and they had ten children:

Abraham (b. ca 1747-21 years or older on the 1768 Rowan Co. Tax List-died ca 1787 in old Lincoln Co., NC) married Rachet Sherrill, daughter of Uriah and Judy Lewis Sherrill, on 30 June 1774. He had a land grant in old Lincoln Co., NC, Isaac (b. ca 1747-21 years or older on the 1768 Rowan Co. Tax List-d. after 1807) had land grant in 1789 in old Lincoln Co., NC; Sarah (b. 29 Sept 1754-d. 10 Nov 1822 and buried in Moore Cemetery in Catawba Co., NC) married Jacob Sherrill, son of William and Agnes Sherrill, on 24 Oct 1771; Rachel (d. before 30 Dec 1818) married Richard Stowe, Henrietta (d. before 6 Nov 1817) married George Haden; Lucresa (d. after 15 Dec 1817) married John Bradley; Jacob (b. ca 1760-d. 14 May 1796 in Montgomery Co., Kentucky) married Catherine Barrier on 9 Apr 1785. Jacob paid a substitute to serve for him in the Revolutionary War but the service was not long enough to receive a widow's pension for his wife; Priscilla (d. 10 Feb 1825 in McNairy Co., Tennessee) married Daniel Lowrance on 30 Sept 1789; Hannah (d. after 1829 possibly in Mecklenburg Co., NC) married ____ Mclntyre (McEntire); Catherine (d. after 20 Aug 1789) married Richard Barrier, son of Abraham Barrier. Nicholas Massey died before 16 May 1809 when an account of his estate was filed. His son-in-law, George Haden was his administrator. His estate was divided between his widow, Lucretia, and nine children. His son, Isaac, could not be found to receive his share.

Letters from Nicholas Massey to his brother, Elijah Eleaser Massey in Kent Co., MD have been preserved. One letter details the death of his wife, Henrietta, in 1773 leaving him a widower with three sons and five daughters. Two daughters had married. Another letter details the crop harvest for that year and asks if his mother is still alive.

Nicholas Massey was the son of Peter (b. ca 1714-d. ca 1759) and Hannah Massey of Kent Co., MD. Other children were Ann, Jerusha, Elijah Eleaser, Peter, Jr. and possibly, James. Peter Massey, Sr. was the son of James Massey (b. ca 1690-d. ca 1755) of Queen Anne Co., MD. Peter's brothers were John, Moses, and James, Junior. James Massey was the son of Nicholas Jr. (d. ca 1726) and Mary Massey of Queen Anne Co, MD. James' brothers were Richard, Peter, Thomas, William and Nicholas III. Nicholas Massey, Jr. was the son of Nicholas Massey, Sr. whose will was probated in 1688 with children, Katherine, Susannah, Anna, Nicholas Jr. and Josias named. Nicholas Massey, Sr. emigrated from the Isle of fly (now Cambridgeshire) in England to Dorchester Co., MD around 1658

-Martha Ann Massey Pritchard, P.O. Box 3, Cornville, AZ 86325 

Sources: Public records of Iredell and Rowan Co., NC; Burke and Catawba Co., NC; Lincoln Co., NC; My Stewart Kin by Jeanette Kelly; Salisbury newspapers; cemetery records; McCubbins Collections; Texas census records; Civil War records